began Monday, 10/29/12 - when the scaled reached 180! OMG I have never been this heavy before other than being pregnant! I am a junk-food junkie and snack all day long. I crave sugar (chocolate!) and carbs and have gained more than 40 lbs. in less than two years. I should also say that I am 48, so hormones probably have a lot to do with it! I have tried many many diets and cannot last more than a day or two without blowing it! I start so often that I always allow myself a huge "last day to eat" binge day which packs on more pounds and then blow the diet and end up heavier!

I decided to post daily updates on this thread to hold myself accountable (it really helps me keep on track!)

About 3 years ago I had a successful weightloss of 20 lbs. on the Master Cleanse fast which I stayed on for 18 days - I looked really good, my skin glowed, all my aches and pains went away, and I felt awesome! BUT as soon as I started eating meat and dairy again the weight came back on, plus an extra 10 lbs.

I am starting a green smoothie fast/cleanse to get the weight off and feel good again! I am reading Dr. Furhman's book, "Eat to Live" which is my motivation for this cleanse/fast and will be my way of eating once this is over. I have decided to try to fast with the green smoothies because I discovered that when I was fasting on the MC, it was easier to eat nothing at all than to eat only a little/diet.

Day 1 was Monday and I had my first green smoothie for breakfast, had a tuna sandwich for lunch and a small bowl of spaghetti for dinner. Tomorrow will be 2 smoothies to one meal and then it's all smoothies (I hope). Don't know how long I will go but will try to go at least 20 days. I do reserve the right to snack on fruit/berries/veggies in minimal amounts if needed.

Happy to report I am down half a pound today which was quite a surprise!
Today's weigh-in: 179.5

FYI, I purchased a Ninja Pro blender at Target on sale for $90 and it is awesome but LOUD! Learning to make GSs is a talent I need to master quickly! My first GS was okay, not great and a little grainy. I put waaaay to many veggies in it and not enough fruit - it wasn't sweet and I had to choke it down.

Today's 1st GS was MUCH better! I had a handful of baby spinach, 1 celery stalk, handful of romaine lettus, 1 pear, 1 banana, 1/4 cup of blue berries and about 6 strawberries. Not bad but I need to add ice to make it cold. Even my 15 year old son tasted it and said it was not too bad. I easily drank the whole 32 ozs.

Had egg salad sandwich and small fruit cup for lunch.

Dinner GS: found myself CRAVING GS by 5:30! that was a surprise! I added some red cabbage and waaaay too much veggies again. My hubby said it was awful but I drank about 64 ozs. right down! Boy is my tummy full after that!

Wow! I am down a whole pound this morning! YAY! I know it's only water but YAY anyway!
today's weigh-in 178.3

No urge to snack at all last night after my HUGE GS, but found I could not keep my eyes open and by 8:30 went to bed for the night and passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. Usually I'm a night-owl and stay up 'til 11:30 or 12-ish.

Woke up MANY times during the night to pee!

Drinking my 1st GS of the day as I write this. I added lots of crushed ice and frozen bananas to make it cold. It's really yummy! No cabbage 'cuz my GS was kind of yucky last night and the only extra thing I added was the cabbage. Maybe I'll try more in a few days. I'm going to experiment with pineapple in my mid-day smoothie today.

I should add that even tho' this is supposed to be a cleanse, I have not yet given up my coffee... using liquid non-dairy creamer tho'

How long are you doing this for? I assume you aren't counting calories or logging food as it seems it would be near impossible with the smoothies. I wouldn't mind trying something like this for a short term, but "not too bad" doesn't sound too good.

Day 3 was kind of weird! Good thing I didn't work because my bowels were pretty loosie-goosie - maybe the cabbage in my evening GS?

I also felt kind of off all day. In the morning I was full of energy and cleaned like crazy! I was washing walls! Then around 11:30 I got really hungry and weak feeling. I was flushed and shaking and everything! I had a GS but didn't feel any better. Ate an apple and a banana and felt a little better by 3:30.

In the evening, since it was Halloween, I indulged in a couple of pieces of chocolate but it didn't even taste good and I was CRAVING a green smoothie!

Happy to say I am down another half pound - probably would have been more had I not eaten the chocolate but I'm happy with the half pound!

Today is Thursday, Nov 1st. We are going to the Colorado River for Thanksgiving and since I'm in California and the river is at the Arizona border, it will be hot! I will need to be wearing shorts and tank tops cuz we will be camping (motorhome) and boating. I need to look good - at least a lot better than I do right now! I never imagined myself weighing this much - ever! In my mind I'm still a Hot-Mama and then I get a glimpse of myself in a window or mirror and I am reminded of how NOT-HOT I am right now! I am downright pudgy! My face is fat!

I will be doing this fast/cleanse for at least 20 days. I may or may not decide to ease off so I can have some food while we are camping. Right now I'm thinking I wanna take my Ninja with me - wonder if the generator can handle the 1000 watts while I blend my GSs!

I feel good today. No excess energy, no shakeyness, no hunger, no weakness. Good thing too cuz I subbed in a kindergarten class today and I needed all my wits and focus!

Bought some chia seeds and goji berries for my smoothies. I also made one today with raspberries - which were soooo good! I ate about 10! Sadly I couldn't even taste them in my GS!

4 days and down 2 full pounds! at this rate I'll only loose 10 or so lbs. by the time we go to the river which is still waaaaay too heavy! I'd better get some exercise in too speed things up a bit!

YEE-HAA! I'm down a FULL POUND from yesterday! That's 3 lbs. in 5 days!

In the words of Adam Sandler: "NOT TOO SHABBY!"

Okay, so I'm feeling pretty good and not very hungry. I'm able to resist food, even homemade cookies! I did eat a banana and an apple yesterday in addition to my 3 GSs. Started to add Chia Seeds to afternoon smoothie cuz I read somewhere that they are a source of protein and can speed weight loss. If the Chia Seeds are responsible for the increase of half pound loss to a full pound loss per day, I'd say the little buggers are worth the price! (they are $13 per pound!). Read somewhere that I'm supposed to soak them first, which I am not doing - anyone with any info on Chia seeds please let me know if they need to be soaked or not...

Like I said, I'm feeling pretty good but fell asleep on the couch last night at 8:00 and slept there until 1:00 am when I stumbled up to bed and struggled to wake up at 6 am. I am usually a night owl who has to force myself to go to bed at midnight and get an average of 6 hrs. of sleep so I don't know why I am soooooo sleepy sooooo early with this GS fast/cleanse. Maybe I need carbs?

I've discovered that I have to peel the cucumbers before I put them into my smoothie or I will have a very bitter drink! Also, I put fresh cranberries in my GS today and again - bitter! - a full package of stevia was needed in addition to the banana and baby carrots already added for sweetness.

If you have any good recipes, please send them my way. thanks for reading my thread!

Good for you Patty! I love Dr. Fuhrman! I followed his plan and lost 20 pounds and I did not do smoothies. I essentially ate only veggies and fruit though for 2 weeks. Then added in rice, beans, etc. after. I kept the weight off for awhile until I fell back into eating a higher meat and dairy diet. Plus, I love red wine. ;-) I wish I could maintain eating like he recommends. It's hard when no one else around you eats that way. But, I too, had no aches, no headaches, no back problems, no acne. No issues at ALL! I felt fantastic. I'm feeling encouraged by your posts and thinking of starting again. Keep up the good work!!

Today's weigh-in: 176.
No change from yesterday but that's probably because I got the munchies while watching a movie with the family and ate some raw almonds.

I'm surprisingly sleepy, but feel great otherwise.

One of my motivations for this fast/cleanse is the way my eyes look. All my life I've received compliments on my big, brown eyes and clear, taut skin - and the fact that I have always easily looked 10-12 years younger than my true age.

Lately my eyes look swollen and puffy and I have dark circles under my eyes which make me look old and tired (almost like I drink too much - which I DO NOT).

I began using Preparation-H under my eyes every morning to lesson the puffiness about a year ago - it helps somewhat but I still haven't looked like myself in a loooong time.

Well, I am happy to say that this morning when I went to put on the Prep-H, I noticed the bags, swelling and dark circles under and around my eyes are noticeably better!

Thank you, lovinmyvoice (great name!), for your comments. Knowing others are reading my posts and encouraging me and perhaps even becoming encouraged themselves is exactly WHY I am posting this daily log. I really need to know there are others out there cheering me on and maybe even considering joining me! So you lost 20 lbs. in 2 weeks?! WOW! I'm impressed. I'm on day six and am down 4 lbs. so I doesn't look like I will lose as quickly as you but I am gonna keep truckin' on! I've got a loooong way to go! My ideal goal is 120 but I'd probably be happy at 130 or even 135. At this point I just can't wait to get down to the 160's! I was at 164 for about a year, then fasted on the mastercleanse and went down to 140-ish. Gained it all back PLUS! This time I will keep GSs and Furhman's eating plan in my life for good!

I'm especially encouraged since I am already physically looking better. I don't like the sleepiness but I am sure it will pass. If not, I am considering adding some protein in the form of fish (salmon, talapia) and maybe a hard-boiled egg here and there to see if that makes a difference. I had hoped that I would feel more energized today after having ate the almonds last night since they are protein and carbs.

Looking forward to my afternoon GS so I am signing off for now to get to it! Thanks again to everyone who is reading this log, just seeing the number of people who have read my thread is so encouraging and motivating!!!

Hey Californiaprettypat... I started my Green smoothie Fast on the night before Halloween... I have done the Master C as well about three times to reboot the system and just couldn't get myself hyped up for the lemonade.. I chose the GSF because it has the ability to change the taste from day to day... I have have been doing nothing but GS and not deviating at all except for one shrimp the night I started... My goal is a RAW lifestyle when I'm done with the fast.. My weight fluctuates with the seasons and after this last bout with pneumonia has ballooned into something I'm not happy with. I will be starting day 5 tomorrow and feel great as long as I don't fall behind with the smoothies. I'm also adding walking and mountain biking as well. Just got on the scale and i'm down 10.5 lbs... How long are you going on yours? Stay strong and good luck.

Hey Ellaspop! thanks for sharing! I can't believe you're down more than 10 lbs. already - we started almost the same day and I'm only down 4! I need to do what you're doing! Tell me everything! How many GSs are you having per day and what's in them?

I haven't added exercise in yet mainly cuz I'm just so sleepy all the time. I have also been snacking on fruit (an apple or pear here and there) and last night a few almonds. Tonight I was so sleepy by 6:30 that I was ready to go to bed for the night! I had half a sweet potato with nothing on it and am still up at 10:13 pm. so I guess I needed carbs.

How are you feeling? I expected to feel energized but instead I am soooo sleepy. Please either post your updates here with me or start your own thread so I can keep up with your progress. I am planning to go at least 20 days, probably a lot longer because I really want to get this excess weight off once and for all!